​A movie review of ​THE INCREDIBLE JESSICA JAMES.

Seen at the Sundance Film Festival: London 2017. (For more information, click here.)

“Do people still say ‘booty call’?” Boone (Chris O’Dowd)

The title sounds like a superhero film or a Western. While the lead does not have superpowers, nor is she a legendary outlaw, the story is more engaging than most comic book flicks. A real person is presented, who is decent and ambitious and not a saint, trying to find happiness in the world (like a lot of us, right?). Why cinema is so afraid of nuance gets mildly depressing. Human personalities are complicated. Perfection is unattainable. Showing foibles is reassuring, especially when done so with charisma and wit.

​Why does the rom-com genre continually tell us that to get over someone we need to get on top of, or underneath, someone else? How is such an idea psychologically/emotionally healthy? Understanding ourselves, being content in ourselves, and dissecting what went wrong/right in the relationship aftermath are barely catalogued at the pictures. If not for the love interest element, THE INCREDIBLE JESSICA JAMES would be closing in on top marks for the genre. Couldn’t the romantic element just have been a friend instead?

The audience meets Jessica James (Jessica Williams) on an awkward first date. It is hilarious. She is hoping to make her dignified ex-beau, Damon (Lakeith Stanfield – turning into an accomplished actor – SHORT TERM 12, WAR MACHINE, CROWN HEIGHTS, etc.) jel. It does not go to plan. (It takes a long while before we find out why he is an ex.)​

​Jessica is an aspiring playwright with plenty of rejection letters. To pay the rent, she teaches theatre to school kids in the Big Apple. While the job rewardingly infuses her young students with confidence and curiosity, the film taps into career woes impacting personal lives. Society seems to have gone down a disturbing path where success equates to value. We all have intrinsic value, and its growth should instead be tied to how we treat one another. THE INCREDIBLE JESSICA JAMES looks at the discrepancy between dreams and reality, and how the chasm cannot be compartmentalised so easily.

When you are miserable, it makes you self-obsessed. Witnessing Jessica’s monologue unloading on a guest at a soiree, where she is doing a moonlight waitress gig, is relatable, right? Examining what events and people have formed us is natural, but the analysis can be on quick sand, i.e. we can’t get a firm grip to make judgments because of the nature of memories and our evolving self. Who is to blame for any misfortunes/shortcomings? Us? Our Parents? Etc. When Jessica thinks of her parents, the film hints at these thoughts. Don’t worry, this is not dour. Far from it. There is a joyous zest permeating the frame. Dialogue is rat-a-tat.​

​“Marriage is an outdated social construct,” Jessica opines. Our protagonist and the film comfortably rail against the status quo. Also, bravo on the removal of the tired African-American best friend stereotype (see the notion being sent up in THEY CAME TOGETHER); Tasha (Noël Wells) is Jessica’s winsome B.F.F., a Caucasian and a lesbian (without any need to draw attention to demographics).

THE INCREDIBLE JESSICA JAMES comes close to being an evergreen character comedy.

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